Miyoko's Endeavors
by Chocogirl24
Summary: Miyoko may be a genius, but she has no clue when it comes to boys. Frankly, as the captain of Seigaku's girl's tennis team, she doesn't have time for them. However, Ryuzaki Sumire, aware of Miyoko's long term crush on Tezuka has given herself the task to get this unlikely pair together. And boy will she need some help. TezukaxOC, Rated T for language
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Hey guys! This is my first Prince of Tennis fanfiction so sorry if it's kinda bad :P Anyways I have yet to see all of the anime and read all of the manga and have decided to write as I watch the anime. Because I want to make sure that this story follows the plotline pretty well. There WILL be some romance along the way. NO love triangles or any of that shit. It'll most likely be Tezuka X OC. Anyways I hope you like (:**

**Disclaimer: I own nobody except for my OC. And also a lot of the events happening are copied from the anime so…*sigh***

_Italics: _Thoughts

**Summary: Miyoko may be a genius, but she has not clue when it comes to boys. Frankly, as the captain of the Seigaku's girl's tennis team, she doesn't have time for them. However, Ryuzaki Sumire, aware of Miyoko's long term crush on Tezuka has given herself the task to get this unlikely pair together. And boy will she need some help. TezukaxOC Rated T for language**

"Hey, um, Ryuzaki-sensei?"

"Yes, Miyoko?"

"Why did you kidnap me and why are we heading towards the train station?"

Hamada Miyoko was not amused. When Ryuzaki Sumire knocked on Miyoko's door this morning claiming there was someone she needed to see, Miyoko knew that her sensei/coach was up to something. However, throughout her two years in Seishun Academy, or Seigaku for short, Miyoko had learned not to question Ryuzaki-sensei's crazy antics and just go with it.

So here she was being dragged to the train station at this ungodly hour.

"Silly, I didn't kidnap you! Stop being so dramatic. We have to pick up my granddaughter before we head to Kakinokizaka Tennis Garden," Ryuzaki-sensei answered.

"_Of course Ryuzaki-sensei would kidnap me just to take me to a stupid tennis tournament. Should have seen this coming," _Miyoko thought, shoving her hands into her sweatpants' pockets.

"What's so special about this guy anyways? He can't be that great" Miyoko mumbled.

"It's a secret!" Ryuzaki-sensei said putting her hand on Miyoko's head and ruffling her short black hair around. Miyoko pouted and roughly shoved Ryuzaki-sensei's hand away.

"Damn it Ryuzaki-sensei, I told you to stop doing that! It makes me feel small," Miyoko muttered. Ryuzaki-sensei let out a heartfelt laugh.

"Well, you are pretty small," Ryuzaki-sensei teased trying to muffle her laughter with her hand when she realized that Miyoko was letting off a dark, intimidating aura.

"_Seriously, 152 cm isn't THAT short!"_

"You're lucky that your old, Baa-san, or I would've punched you into next week," Miyoko said, lifting an 'intimidating' fist in Ryuzaki-sensei's direction with a few veins popping on her forehead.

"Haha, like you could…AND WHO YOU CALLING OLD, YOU BRAT?!" Ryuzaki-sensei shouted while pointing an accusing finger at Miyoko. "Whatever, let's hurry up and get to the train station. We are already late as it is."

"When were we supposed to meet your granddaughter anyways?" Miyoko asked trying to fix her hair.

"Hmm, about 20 minutes ago."

"WHAT? YOU'RE ALWAYS LATE YOU OLD HAG, WHAT IF SHE GETS KIDNAPPED?!" Miyoko shouted at her sensei/coach.

"I'm not _always _late and she'll be fine, trust me…AND WHO YOU CALLING AN OLD HAG YOU INCOMPETENT LITTLE BAKA?!" 

*******BREAK*******

Eventually, 10 minutes later they reached the damn train station. Miyoko was still grumbling nonsense about her height under her breath as they walked in. Ryuzaki-sensei looked around before finally spotting her granddaughter.

Miyoko looked at the young girl carefully. Miyoko scowled. This girl seemed to be at least a couple years younger than her but their height was still the same. She had brown twin pigtails running down her back and was wearing a white skirt with a pink cardigan.

"_How could the monster who is Ryuzaki-sensei have such a cute granddaughter?" _She felt a hand slap the back of her head.

"OWW!" Miyoko said while she started rubbing the sore spot.

"I heard that you brat," Ryuzaki-sensei growled. Miyoko sheepishly rubbed the back of her head and mustered up the most innocent expression she could.

"H-Hahaha, did I say that out loud? What I m-meant was that you have such a c-c-cute granddaughter. S-She must have inherited y-your looks hahaha," Miyoko stuttered out. Ryuzaki-sensei gave a low chuckle.

"Good," she stated simply and walked towards her granddaughter.

"Ah, Obaa-chan you're late! You're 30 minutes late!" the cute girl exclaimed as they walked up to her.

"Sorry Sakuno! I was picking up Miyoko from her house," Ryuzaki-sensei said. The young girl looked towards Miyoko, finally acknowledging her presence. Miyoko gave Sakuno a small nod.

"Ohayō, my name is Hamada Miyoko. Nice to meet you," Miyoko says bowing slightly.

"Ryuzaki Sakuno, nice to meet you too Miyoko-senpai. Obaa-chan always talks about you," Sakuno says with a bow. Miyoko quirked an eyebrow at her sensei/coach wondering what exactly she told Sakuno about her.

"Anyways we should be going," Ryuzaki-sensei says as she leads us towards the North exit. Miyoko start to follow her but Sakuno speaks before they were able to get anywhere.

"That's the north exit…" Sakuno says a little warily. Ryuzaki-sensei lifts her eyebrow and points towards the exit.

"What are you saying? Kakinokizaka Tennis Garden is just ahead of the north exit. What are you doing? Let's hurry," Ryuzaki-sensei says as she starts walking towards the exit. Miyoko starts to follow Ryuzaki-sensei but stops once she hears Sakuno's panicked voice.

"Ah what will I do? I told him the wrong directions!" Sakuno sputters out looking nervously at the South exit.

"_Hmm, strange girl," _Miyoko thought as she continued to follow Ryuzaki-sensei to the tournament with Sakuno scampering to catch up. 

******BREAK******

Miyoko could see the huge yellow sign that stated they had reached Kakinokizaka Tennis Garden. The sounds of tennis balls being hit by rackets and shoes squeaking consumed the air. Miyoko had always thought that sound was oddly soothing.

She looked ahead at all the players. In court one, there seemed to be a huge boy serving. Miyoko's eyes narrowed as she examined his stance. His feet were too wide. That by itself is a recipe to disaster. Normally with a wider stance, it is easier to get all your weight onto your back foot, and move it all to your front foot as you hit your racket drop position. However, considering his height it would be more effective if his feet were closer together. That way it would be easier for him explode up and into the tennis ball. Ah, his serves could be so much more powerful if he only just moved into a more pinpoint stance.

Miyoko then looked at his grip. She could easily see that he was using the Continental Grip. This grip can be used with any shot but it is primarily used for serves, volleys, overheads, slices, and defensive shots. Although it is a very effective grip, it's not made for everyone. Miyoko could easily tell that the boy was aiming to put a lot of power into his serve. However, when using the Continental Grip, you have to aim for the shot just above net level, leaving only a little margin for error. All of this transpired through Miyoko's mind in a matter of seconds.

"_What a shame,"_ Miyoko thought as she watched the serve hit the net. Ryuzaki-sensei was silently observing Miyoko as she analyzed the tall boy. She tried to hide her smile once again.

"_She's going to be blown away by Ryoma," _Ryuzaki-sensei thought as her attention slowly drifted towards Sakuno. Sakuno was frantically looking around and was quite a bit ahead of Miyoko and Ryuzaki-sensei.

"Hey, you're in a hurry…is there someone you have your eyes on?" Ryuzaki-sensei asked Sakuno.

"Obaa-chan what happens when you're late for a match?" Sakuno asked earnestly, looking up at Sumire with her big brown eyes in desperation.

"Then he defaults," Ryuzaki-sensei replied bluntly.

"Default?" Sakuno asked with a confused expression.

"Disqualification," Miyoko chimes in. Sakuno looks at her with her wide brown eyes.

"Oh this is bad. I have to go look around!" Sakuno exclaims as she starts to run somewhere.

"What a strange child. Be careful!" Ryuzaki-sensei calls after her. Miyoko sighs as she stuffs her hands in her pockets once again.

"Troublesome…before you ask, I'm not going after her," Miyoko says as she slumps her shoulders.

"I wasn't going to ask you anyways, you lazy brat!" Ryuzaki-sensei snaps. Miyoko's green eyes narrowed at the insult.

"_I may be lazy, but I'm no brat, you old hag," _Miyoko thought. She felt yet another stinging feeling on the back of her head. Miyoko's hand automatically came up to ease the pain.

"OW!"

"I HEARD THAT YOU BAKA!" 

*******BREAK*******

"Where are we going now Ryuzaki-sensei?" Miyoko asked as she walked a little behind her sensei/coach just in case she accidently insulted her again. Miyoko didn't want to die, not like that.

"We are going to go watch that person that I wanted you to see. Hmm, he should be on court 10," Ryuzaki-sensei mumbled to herself as she walked in the direction of court 10. Miyoko grudgingly followed her.

"_This is such a waste of time. This guy better be worth it or I'm gonna murder someone," _Miyoko thought as she got more and more aggravated by the second.

Ryuzaki-sensei stopped, however, which caused Miyoko to bump into her.

"Hey! Why'd you stop?" Miyoko said as she rubbed her forehead.

"There isn't anyone playing on court 10," Ryuzaki-sensei stated in a confused tone while she rubbed the back of her neck. Miyoko looked, and indeed, there was no one on the court. She sweat dropped.

"So, you mean to tell me that we walked all the way here…for no reason?" Miyoko asked with a twitching eye.

"Hahahaha it seems like it," Ryuzaki-sensei stated as she slowly walked away from the time bomb that Miyoko has become. Sumire has been in this situation many times in the 2 years that she has known Miyoko. For some reason Sumire has this _gift _that was bestowed upon her that guarantees the detonation of the time bomb that Miyoko becomes when she is _furious._

"Now now now, no need to be rash. HEY! I have an idea! Why don't we go, um, find Sakuno-chan and then maybe we can go get some cake?" Ryuzaki-sensei suggests quickly. She lets out a relieved sigh as she sees that Miyoko has visibly relaxed.

"….what kinds of cake are we talking about?" Miyoko mumbles, slowly caving into the tactics of her stupid sensei/coach.

"Any cake you want! I'll even make it for you," Ryuzaki-sensei assured her.

"Whatever. Let's just go find Sakuno…and by the way, I want chocolate cake," Miyoko promptly said and walks away in the direction where they last saw Sakuno. Ryuzaki-sensei slightly chuckles and follows the young prodigy. Yes, young readers, you heard correctly. Hamada Miyoko, the lazy teenager, is a tennis prodigy. As the girl's tennis captain and ace she has led her team to many victories. Ryuzaki-sensei likes to call her the Falcon because her eyes don't miss _anything._ No matter how strong, fast, or skilled her opponent Miyoko is able to access their ability and think of a counteract _on the spot. _Her IQ of 200 allows Miyoko to think multiple steps ahead of her opponent, and this is what makes her a formidable foe. Sumire is proud to say that over the past 2 years she has taken this young protégée and honed her skills to the max.

"_For a girl who has an IQ of 200, you would think she wouldn't be so stupid and easily blackmailed," _Ryuzaki-sensei thought while glaring at the back of the short teenagers head. Miyoko stopped suddenly.

"Found Sakuno. But, wait, what is she doing?" Miyoko asked while looking at the court that Sakuno inhabited. It appears that two players were having a match but there was no umpire in sight.

"_Hmm, must be a self-judged match then_," Miyoko thought. The player farther away from the two had just performed a perfect return and everyone seemed to be in shock. When Ryuzaki-sensei saw the two players on the court a big smile spread over her face. She grabbed onto Miyoko's hand and started to drag her towards the court.

"Stupid Baa-san, I can get there myself," Miyoko exclaimed while trying to get her arm out of Ryuzaki-sensei's grip.

"You little brat, you need to learn how to respect your elders."

"So you're finally admitting your old now, huh?"

"WHY YOU LITTLE-"

"Hey now, there are children present."

"WAIT TILL I GET MY-"

"Come on, stop being a baby."

"WHAT SO I'M A BABY NOW?! MAKE UP YOUR DAMN MIND!"

"LANGUGE, BAA-SAN, LANGUAGE!"

"You're so infuriating."

"Love you too, now can we please go," Miyoko said as she shoved her hands in her pocket and walked towards the court as though nothing had just happened. Good thing too, because if Ryuzaki-sensei had to suffer another second of that conversation she would've strangled the young girl. And we all know that she's too old for jail. So she sucked it up and followed the insufferable, intolerable, unbearable, unendurable, insupportable, conceited, and arrogant teenager to Sakuno.

"So this is where you went off too…" Ryuzaki-sensei says as we approach Sakuno.

"Obaa-chan! Miyoko-senpai!" Sakuno cried in surprise. However, Ryuzaki-sensei and Miyoko just gave her a cursory glance before they once again scrutinized the game.

"This looks interesting," Ryuzaki-sensei mused while crossing her arms. Miyoko examined the two players on the court. On the side closer to the three of them, stood a male about 175 cm tall with light brown hair that parted in the middle and reached his shoulders. Probably around the age 16 or so and judging by his stance and easy going attitude Miyoko could tell that he was arrougant in his abilities. Underestimating your opponent is the most idiotic, yet frequent, mistake made in all sports. Miyoko averted her attention to the other player who was significantly younger than his opponent. He was wearing a red and white polo shirt, a pair of dark colored short, and a white hat. However, his grip was bothering Miyoko. It was perfect, don't get her wrong, but it felt alienated just by looking at it. It was sort of like how Tezuka played. Just by one look at his cat-like eyes Miyoko could determine that the young boy was very analytical and confident in his abilities.

"_Judging by his stance and the grip on his racket this kid is pretty skilled. The winner of this match was determined as soon as he returned the ball," _Miyoko mused.

"Don't just stand there, stop this! One thing led to another, and now he's playing a game with a high schooler!" Sakuno exclaimed.

"What are you saying? Didn't you see that return? This is where it gets interesting" Ryuzaki-sensei said with a smile. She looked over at Miyoko and her grin got even wider. Miyoko had a small grin on her face and her eyes were lit with curiosity and wonder. Miyoko hasn't seen a kid like this for a while. The last time she ever saw someone with this much potential was during her first year at Seigaku. Tezuka Kunimitsu. He is Seigaku's pillar of support and is known as the Seigaku's "strongest man." Miyoko remembers when the boys' tennis team was having their ranking matches to determine who would become a regular; Tezuka was the only first-year who was entered into the matches. No one expected him to get anywhere in the matches, but his amazing skills in the sport allowed him to get a position as a regular. Now in his third year in Seigaku he has become a strict but efficient captain. Miyoko admires him greatly.

"Doesn't he remind you of someone?" Ryuzaki-sensei whispered in Miyoko's ear. She jumped, startled by her sensei/coach's remark. Her face automatically turned red in embarrassment knowing what Ryuzaki-sensei was up to.

"…n-n-no," Miyoko stuttered as she avoided eye contact with Ryuzaki-sensei.

"Hmmm, I could have sworn that he reminded me of a certain boy that you admire…what was his name again? Tenzo? Tetsuya? Or was it Tetsuo?" Ryuzaki-sensei rambled. Sumire knew that Miyoko had one of the biggest crushes on Tezuka. She knew that many girls in Seigaku were fond of the tensai. It was kind of annoying. Sumire could hear their cheers and screams of his fangirls at _every single_ one of his matches. However, Sumire knew that Miyoko was never like that. She was more of the type that admired from a distance. They had limited contact because they were both very busy with practices. Now that Sumire thought about it, they would make a great couple. Both of them were incredibly intelligent and tensai's in the sport of tennis. Their personalities also fit well together. Maybe when school starts again she can gather the regulars together and they can pull something toget-

"If you say one more word, I'll kill you," Miyoko deadpanned cutting into Ryuzaki-sensei's thoughts. However, the intimidation was not there considering her face was still beet red from embarrassment.

"Hahaha must have been my imagination…." Ryuzaki-sensei muttered while taking a few steps away from Miyoko.

"Hey Sasabe, maybe you should really try to win," a boy, most likely a friend of the arrogant bastard, on the opposite side of the court yelled. Miyoko decided that 'Sasabe' didn't suit him so she'll just resort to calling him 'Arrogant Bastard' for now.

"Shut up! Anybody can ace a return if it was an underhand serve," Arrogant Bastard replied.

"Yup, there are those who use those excuses for losing," the kid said. Arrogant Bastard apparently didn't like the kid's tone so instead served the ball. This is the time that Miyoko would normally analyze his stance and grip and see whether it was adequate or not, but she was too lazy, and she already knew who would win this match.

"There goes Sasabe's bullet serve!" yelled one Arrogant Bastard's friend.

"_Psh like anybody couldn't hit that."_

"Too slow!" the kid replied, easily returning the ball. Arrogant Bastard returned the ball back and they did this a couple times before the kid powerfully hit the ball between Arrogant Bastard's legs.

"Awesome," Sakuno said in awe.

"This is the tip of the iceberg…" Ryuzaki-sensei said. Miyoko looked at her for a second before she realized who this kid was.

"This the kid you brought me here to see?" Miyoko asked and Ryuzaki-sensei nodded her head.

"Eh, you know him Obaa-chan?" Sakuno asked.

"Didn't I tell you guys? He's the Prince of Tennis," Ryuzaki-sensei replied. This would probably be the time that Miyoko would make a stupid joke about how of course she forgot to tell us and how her old age is catching up on her, but she was too intrigued (lazy). Prince of Tennis huh?

"Echizen Ryoma, 12 years old. In a year and a half, he's won 4 straight junior tournaments in the US, and is known as a prodigy," Ryuzaki-sensei stated.

"Four straight?" Sakuno asked in a surprised tone.

"Yup, there's no fluke in that. He's the son of one of my students. The family is returning to Japan and even though he's not known here, he said he was going to appear in this tournament. I told him that if he was that strong, he should register in the Under-14 instead of the Under-12 but Ryoma boasted that if he was going to play, he'd play in the Under-16 category. What a guy…" Ryuzaki-sensei said. Miyoko narrowed her eyes as she took in all this information. This Ryoma kid was really something. However, what irked Miyoko was that his surname, Echizen, sounded really familiar.

Ryoma was doing pretty well, not letting his opponent get a single point. Miyoko averted her attention towards the match again, since it was the kid's turn to serve now. Judging by Ryoma's previous plays his serves should be pretty good. So Miyoko watched as Ryoma got into a perfect serving stance and gracefully served an ace, not even allowing Arrogant Bastard to react to the serve. However, the next serve didn't go as smoothly. Ryoma did the exact same serve as before but this time Arrogant Bastard seemed to have a plan. He sent the ball back and started running towards the net. Miyoko's eye widened a fraction as she realized what Arrogant Bastard was planning. He started to take the height difference into account and started to hit the ball into places where it was almost impossible for Ryoma to reach. As he continued to do, Miyoko could see that Ryoma was starting to get frustrated with Arrogant Bastard's antics. So what Ryoma did next almost made Miyoko laugh. He sent the ball souring over Arrogant Bastard's head in a high lob.

"It's just like Ryoma to overcome the height difference by using a high lob," Ryuzaki-sensei said with small smile on her face. Arrogant Bastard was not happy. Not happy at all. Ryoma used his high lob again, however since it was a self-judged game it was easy for Arrogant Bastard to lie and say it was out. It pissed Miyoko off to no end, but she has seen that coming. He has the right to judge his side of the court anyways.

"_I wonder what Ryoma has planned now," _Miyoko thought. She knows what she would do if she was in his position but there was no telling if he could do the move or not. However, all thought of that flew out of her mind as she saw Ryoma do another high lob. Miyoko knew that this Ryoma kid was pretty intelligent but this was genius. She couldn't keep the grin on her face as Miyoko watched the ball come to a stop where it landed on the ground, indicating obviously that the ball was still in.

"He's good! He added a slice to the lob that allowed the ball to stop before the line," Ryuzaki-sensei said in a cheerful voice looking at the match intently. Miyoko, for once, found herself agreeing with the old hag. However, Miyoko knew that Arrogant Bastard won't give up that easily and that he might go to dangerous drastics in order to win. Though that seems impossible considering the score is now 4-0. Ryoma only needs to win two more games to win the match. So when she saw that Arrogant Bastard tried to jump to reach the high lob that Ryoma was doing again and stop midair, Miyoko knew trouble was coming.

Arrogant Bastard 'accidently' let go of his racket and it flew towards Ryoma's face. Both Ryuzaki-sensei and Sakuno gasped as Ryoma fell to the ground. Miyoko just narrowed her eyes.

"_That baka, what is he thinking?!" _Miyoko thought as she watched Ryoma lift himself off the ground with blood dribbling down his face. Miyoko felt her hands twitched. She wanted to punch something. She hated when players played dirty. Sakuno ran up to Ryoma and took out a pink handkerchief and offered it to him

"Ryoma-kun, are you alright?" Sakuno asked frantically, her eyes widened in concern. Ryoma, however, put his hand out, gesturing her to stop.

"Don't come onto the court during the game," he said as he got up wiping the blood off his face.

"B-but…" Sakuno started worriedly. Ryoma turned towards Arrogant Bastard and stared at him.

"Your grip is weak…mada mada dane," Ryoma said. Miyoko lifted one of her eyebrows. That kid has courage to say that to a senpai. He goes back to his spot and begins to serve. Ryoma, surprising everyone, served a twist serve. Miyoko's eyes widen. She was not expecting that at all.

"Obaa-chan, what was that?" Sakuno asked in an awed tone.

"It's called the twist serve," Ryuzaki-sensei replied.

"What's a twist serve?" Sakuno asked.

"The twist serve can also be called a kick serve. The twist serve is generated by tossing the ball over the head, then hitting it laterally on the server's non-dominant side brushing upward toward the dominant side. Upon hitting the surface of the court, the ball will either bounce directly towards the receiver for a kick serve, or to the left for the receiver for an American twist serve," Miyoko stated. Sakuno stared at her with her big brown eyes in wonder.

"How did you memorize all of that Miyoko-senpai?" Sakuno asked.

"Well, I didn't necessarily memorize it on purpose. It's just that if I read or hear something I automatically remember it," Miyoko explained as she watched Ryoma do another twist serve.

"Ah, that's so cool Miyoko-senpai! You're really smart," Sakuno said while staring at Miyoko in awe. Miyoko blushed and looked away from the cute pigtailed girl. She felt a hand rest on the top of her head, ruffling her hair.

"Aww, is little Miyoko-chan embarrassed. My theory, my dear Sakuno-chan, is that all her growth hormone went to her brain instead of her height!" Ryuzaki-sensei said with a heartfelt laugh. Miyoko's face turned even redder than before. Instead this time, from anger not embarrassment.

Ignoring her stupid sensei/coach, Miyoko turned her attention back to the match. Ryoma was about to serve the winning shot but Arrogant Bastard fell to the ground and covered his face before he could finish.

"Stop! I give up!" Arrogant Bastard cried out.

"Baka," Ryoma stated and started to head back to his bag.

"Don't call me a baka, you dumbass. I wasn't taking you seriously, that's all!" Arrogant Bastard tried to reason. Miyoko would have answered him back, pointing out his bullshit but she lacked the confidence and didn't want any unnecessary attention.

"If you want to play another set, that's fine with me," Ryoma said as he moved his racket from his right hand to his left and looked up at Arrogant Bastard with a glint in his eyes. Miyoko's eyes widened in realization.

"_No. Way."_

"Don't you get it? You stubborn fool, you can't beat Echizen Ryoma no matter how many times you try-" Ryuzaki-sensei started.

"What are you talking about?" Arrogant Bastard interrupted.

"-because he's left handed," Miyoko finished with a small smile on her face. So that's why his grip seemed odd! It wasn't his dominant arm! Ryoma hasn't taken this game seriously from the start. Who would've thought? Ryoma then proceeds to serve the ball with his dominant arm and sends Arrogant Bastard on his pathetic little way.

"Echizen Ryoma, he's truly a monster. It'll be fun from here on," Ryuzaki-sensei mumbles to herself. She looks at Miyoko and sees that same look she saw all those years ago.

"Reminds you of Tezuka right?" Ryuzaki-sensei says in a teasing tone. Miyoko's face once again turns beat red but doesn't deny the fact.

"Hey, um, Ryuzaki-sensei?"

"Yes Miyoko?"

"Go make me some chocolate cake."

**A/N: WELL WHAT DID YOU THINK?! It took me forevverrr to write this. So should I continue? Sorry if Ryuzaki-sensei was kinda OCC. **

**PLEASE REVIEW BECAUSE I LOVE REVIEWS AND THEY ENCOURAGE ME **


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Here's another chapter (:**

**Summary: Miyoko may be a genius, but she has not clue when it comes to boys. Frankly, as the captain of the girl's tennis team, she doesn't have time for them. However, Ryuzaki Sumire, aware of Miyoko's long term crush on Tezuka has given herself the task to get this unlikely pair together. And boy will she need some help. TezukaxOC Rated T for language**

_Italics: Thoughts_

**Sorry for any grammatical mistakes made…I tried to proofread to the best of my abilities!**

**Disclaimer: Don't own anything except for Miyoko…unfortunately. **

Miyoko likes lots of things. She likes cake (chocolate cake), candy, reading, tennis, cats, and etc. However, there is one thing that Miyoko likes above all things. And that is sleep. Sleep-a condition of body and mind such as that which typically recurs for several hours every night, in which the nervous system is relatively inactive, the eyes closed, the postural muscles relaxed, and consciousness practically suspended—has always been a friend of Miyoko. If she's late to class you can assume she's sleeping. If she's late for tennis practice you can assume she's sleeping. If she's late for a meeting you can assume she's sleeping.

Basically if she's late for anything you can assume Miyoko is sleeping. Unsurprisingly, she found herself oversleeping for school that dreadful Monday morning. However, when Miyoko hears her mother shrieking for her to wake up she _bolts _out of bed and changes into her school uniform in record time. When Miyoko's mother, Hamada Chinatsu, was mad everyone knew that serious shit was going down. Her Oka-san could be terrifying.

After Miyoko changed into her horrid uniform she sprinted downstairs to catch a quick breakfast. She stepped into the kitchen and saw her younger brother, Azuma, and her older sister, Harumi, eating toast calmly and her father, Hamada Ryota, reading the newspaper. Miyoko's mother, who was at the stove making more toast, looked up as Miyoko sprinted into the kitchen and literally _glared daggers _at her. Miyoko sweatdropped as she discreetly shuffled to her seat.

"_Now I've really done it. This is how I'm going to die." _

Miyoko sipped some milk as she looked at the clock on the wall and then proceeded to choke as she saw that school started in 30 minutes. Normally, this would be early to go to school but she promised to meet Ryuzaki-sensei 20 minutes before school started. How is she going to get to school in 10 minutes?! She quickly chugged down her milk.

"Sorry Oka-san, I have to go to school early," Miyoko quickly said as she picked up some toast and headed to the sink to wash her glass. She heard her mother sigh.

"You really need to stop waking up so late, Miyoko," Oka-san said, "You need to be more responsible if you ever want to get anywhere in life!" Miyoko rolled her eyes. This is probably the 104th time she has heard this conversation.

"Yes, Oka-san, I know. I'll try to wake up earlier next time," Miyoko says as she takes hold of her handbag and her bag for tennis practice.

"Yeah you better, because if there is a next time…" Oka-san trailed off holding up a butter knife. Miyoko gulped and nodded her head vigorously before scampering out of the room in fright.

"_Damn that was a close one…" _Miyoko thought as she started to walk to school. _"It's only 7:30 in the morning and I have already almost died twice." _

*********BREAK*********

Miyoko walked onto Seigaku's campus approximately 15 minutes before school started and started heading towards Ryuzaki-sensei's office. Hopefully, she wouldn't kill her for being late. Two death threats were enough; another one is kind of pushing it.

She sighed tiredly and trudged up to the old hag's office. She stopped when she heard noises coming from inside.

"_Was she expecting someone else too?" _Miyoko pondered. She put her ear next to the door and eavesdropped on the conversation.

"Please. I came to deliver this month's release." Oh, it must be those reporters Ryuzaki-sensei was talking about. Miyoko didn't know they were coming so early in the school year though.

"You could have just sent it," Miyoko heard Ryuzaki-sensei say.

"It's okay, we do spend plenty of time on tennis students, too."

"Hmm? I see, you came to spy on our new members, then?" Ryuzaki-sensei asked. Miyoko heard Reporter-san give out a laugh.

"You got me! How does it look this year?" Reporter-san asked.

"Ah, we'll see," Ryuzaki-sensei said. Suddenly Miyoko heard a Ryuzaki-sensei's startled voice.

"Huh?"

"I was in charge of that article." Wait what article is it?! Miyoko tapped her fingers impatiently, curiosity getting the best of her.

"Couldn't you have written it in a calmer manner?" Ryuzaki-sensei asked, "This thing has biased written all over it!" Miyoko heard palms hit the desk.

"I'm fine with that!" Reporter-san exclaimed, "Men's tennis was really something back then. I was an especially big fan of Echizen Nanjirou." Wait, what?

Echizen…

_Echizen…._

ECHIZEN NANJIROU! That's why Miyoko thought that kid from this weekend was so peculiar. He must be Nanjirou-san's son! _"Damn, how could I be so stupid?! The answer was right in front of me!" _

Miyoko couldn't believe that that little brat was Echizen Nanjirou's son. Her father was always blabbing about how he was the best tennis player in all of Japan. Nanjirou, also called "Samurai Nanjirou", was known for his invincible tennis skills during his earlier years as a professional tennis player.

"Echizen, eh?" Ryuzaki-sensei's said in that annoying all-knowing old hag voice that Miyoko hated.

"He retired at a young age. But he could've reached the top of the world had he played for a couple more years. Even a Grand Slam wouldn't have been just a dream," Reporter-san said. Even from her position outside of the room, Miyoko could hear the awe in his voice.

"Echizen Nanjirou, eh?" Ryuzaki-sensei said with a faraway tone. At this precise moment, the _brilliant _Miyoko chose to trip over her shoe laces and fall straight on her face.

"_HOW IS THIS EVEN POSSIBLE?! I WASN'T MOVING!" _Miyoko thought to herself. It surprises even herself how she can defy logic in the most complicated of ways. She got up slowly and dusted herself off. Miyoko's head jerked towards the door when she heard it slam open. She sheepishly looked up at the strange man standing in the doorway. He was wearing a striped long sleeved button up shirt tucked into black trousers. Also strapped around his shoulders was a camera and handbag. This must be Reporter-san. He was staring at Miyoko with wide eyes. She sighed internally. _"Troublesome…" _Miyoko bowed her head politely.

"Ohayō, sorry to disturb," Miyoko mumbled. She could hear Ryuzaki-sensei sigh as she turned around facing the door.

"Sleep in again Miyoko?" Ryuzaki-sensei asked. Miyoko's face automatically heated up from embarrassment.

"O-Of course not! There was this bird that was injured on the street and I just ha-"

"Cut your excuses," Ryuzaki-sensei interjected. Well, _someone _woke up on the wrong side of the bed. Normally, she would let Miyoko continue embarrassing herself with her stupid excuses.

"You're Hamada Miyoko aren't you?" Reporter-san asked before the two could start arguing, interest brewing in his voice. Miyoko's face heated up at the attention and just nodded her head, not trusting her voice. The next thing she knew, Reporter-san was up in her face and shaking her hand vigorously.

"Wow! It's a pleasure to meet the Falcon! I've seen you're previous games and may I say you are truly amazing! How is the tennis team holding up? Do you think the girl's team will make it to Nationals this year?" Reporter-san asked energetically not allowing her to get a word in. Miyoko just stared at him with her wide green eyes. _"He knows who I am?"_

"Oh! Sorry! How rude of me! My name is Inoue Mamoru and my photographer and I are visiting Seigaku in order to report on the team's upcoming ranking matches!" Mamoru-san said in a way too energetic voice. Miyoko relaxed when the weirdo let go of her hand and tried to ease the redness off her face. She looked at Ryuzaki-sensei for some guidance but it only reddened her face more when she saw her sensei/coach trying to muffle her laughter.

"Yeah, I'm Hamada Miyoko," was all she said him as she inched closer to Ryuzaki-sensei. If it was possible, Inoue-san's smile grew even brighter.

"Is that all you needed Inoue-san?" Ryuzaki-sensei asked before he could continue to ask more questions. Inoue-san automatically sobered up and got back to the reason he was in her office.

"Yeah, so I can come after school and observe the new players right?" Inoue-san asked looking at Ryuzaki-sensei hopefully. She looked at him and sighed.

"The juniors and seniors on the boy's team have a game with another school so signups will start tomorrow not today for both girls and boys," Ryuzaki-sensei explained.

"_Damn, I forgot about that. And I came prepared too…oh well, I suppose I can just practice by myself or something," _Miyoko thought to herself.

"Oh, okay. Well I'll see you tomorrow then Ryuzaki-san! And I'll see you tomorrow as well Hamada-san," Inoue-san said enthusiastically and left with a small bow. Miyoko was horrified. How could someone be this excited this early in the morning?! She turned to Ryuzaki-sensei and saw that she was staring at her already.

"Huh? What'd I do?" Miyoko asked with her head slightly tilted.

"You heard every single word didn't you."

"WHAT? I'D NEVER-"

"DON'T LIE TO ME BRAT."

"I AIN'T LIEING YOU HAG."

"STOP CALLING ME A HAG YOU MIDGET."

"DON'T TELL ME WHAT TO DO…AND WHO YOU CALLING MIDGET YOU—"

"ENOUGH! Just admit you heard everything and I will not hold anything against you," Ryuzaki-sensei said while breathing hard, her chest moving up and down in rage.

"Okay, I heard everything."

"Now I'm not pressuring you to tell the truth—"

"But, I'm just told you the truth."

"—so if you WANT to you can tell me the truth and I will not harm you (maybe a little)—"

"Seriously, have you gone deaf Baa-san? I'm telling the truth."

"—so why don't you be a dear and tell the truth huh?"

"I HEARD EVERYTHING."

"You see? That wasn't so hard!" Ryuzaki-sensei exclaimed clapping her hands together like she was entertaining a 5 year old. Let's just say you could literally feel like anger and annoyance coming off of Miyoko. However, she calmed down when she recalled the conversation that Ryuzaki-sensei had with the journalist.

"So you used to teach Echizen Nanjirou, huh?" Miyoko asked curiously.

"Yes, I was kind of expecting you to realize that sooner you baka," Ryuzaki-sensei stated as she crossed her arms. Normally this would be the part where Miyoko would lash out at her but she was also reprimanding herself for missing that detail when she was told Ryoma's full name.

"Ah yeah, I know. Very stupid of me. So that's where Echizen disappeared off to? To raise his son?" Miyoko asked.

"I suppose so. That good for nothing pervert doesn't contact me willing so I can't be sure," Ryuzaki-sensei said glumly.

"I wouldn't either…" Miyoko muttered under her breathe, hoping it was out of earshot.

"I'm going to pretend like I didn't hear that." Damn it.

"So why'd you call me here Ryuzaki-sensei?" Miyoko asked, finally getting to the point.

"Well, the bell will ring in about 20 seconds, so I don't really see the point of telling you now. Why don't you come after school instead?" Ryuzaki-sensei said while sitting down at her desk. Miyoko sighed. Of course she hurried to school for no reason. She could've slept like 10 minutes more. Miyoko really hates Ryuzaki-sensei sometimes. Actually more like 99% of the time.

**********BREAK**********

School was boring today. Tezuka's fangirls were especially glum today due to his absence. Literally every minute there was a unanimous sigh that came from each and every single member of Tezuka's fanclub. Miyoko wanted to slam her head through a wall.

Miyoko looked over to the empty seat next to her where Tezuka normally sat. She still couldn't get over the fact that Domoto-sensei actually put her in a seat next to THE Tezuka. You couldn't imagine the number of death glares she got that day. She had yet to have any interactions with the prodigy yet, which she was thankful for. Miyoko was not sure whether she would be able to speak a coherent phrase in front of him.

"_He'd probably think I was one of his fangirls. Damn it, why do I suck?" _Miyoko thought, shifting her legs so they were crossed. She looked at Domoto-sensei and saw that he was staring at her.

"Hamada, why don't you answer this math problem?" Domoto-sensei asked. Miyoko looked at the problem on the board and sighed. Didn't they learn this stuff last year? She stared at the problem for a couple seconds.

"The answer is 16x to the 3rd plus 10x squared minus 39x minus 27," Miyoko said with a bored expression on her face. She looked at the surprised expression on her sensei's face.

"What? How did you do that?" Domoto-sensei asked flabbergasted.

"In my head," Miyoko deadpanned. He looked at her for another second before erasing the problem and writing another on the board.

"What about this one?" Domoto-sensei asked expectantly. This one didn't even take her a second.

"2x plus 3 divided by x plus 4," Miyoko answered again. He wrote another problem.

"Square root of 50x to the 7th multiplied by the square root of 2x to the 3rd." Another problem.

"3 plus or minus i multiplied by the square root of 15 divided by 3." Another problem.

"Negative 34 divided by 95 plus 122 divided by 95 multipled by i." Domoto-sensei stops here looking at Miyoko with wide eyes. Everyone else in the class was whispering and openly staring at her. Miyoko forced herself not to allow her cheeks to redden from all the attention. She hated when people looked at her.

"_Probably not a smart thing to answer all those question that fast," _Miyoko thought to herself.

"Is that enough questions Domoto-sensei?" Miyoko asked quietly trying to avoid everyone's eyes. Domoto-sensei nodded dumbly and continued his lesson but no one was really paying attention. Miyoko suspects that he wasn't really paying attention either.

*********BREAK*********

"Ryuzaki-sensei, I'm coming in!" Miyoko shouts as she opens the door to her sensei/coach's office. This is usually the manner she uses when she enters Ryuzaki-sensei's office. Thank Kami she heard voices that morning before she could embarrass herself even more in front of Inoue-san. She looked into the quaint room and saw that Ryuzaki-sensei was not there yet. She sighed and decided to go sit in her chair. Mostly because it was a rolly chair. Miyoko loved rolly chairs.

She turned the chair around so she could see out the window. Miyoko could see the three tennis courts perfectly from this position. She could see two 2nd years practicing on the court, Miyoko couldn't remember their names. Outside of the fenced in tennis courts were four 1st years. Miyoko looked at them closely her eyes lingering on the raven haired kid who had his back towards the window. He turned around so Miyoko could see his face and she stood up abruptly. It was Echizen Ryoma.

"_What?! He goes to Seigaku? Damn that old hag doesn't tell me anything," _Miyoko thought her face forming a frown. She sat back down and swiveled her (Ryuzaki-sensei's) chair towards the door when she heard it open. There, at the door, stood the old hag. Miyoko crossed her legs and put her hands on the desk.

"Hey Baa-san, what did you ne-"

"Get out of my chair."

"Understood."

Miyoko reluctantly gets out of the chair and walks around the desk as Ryuzaki-sensei takes her rightful place. She shuffles a couple of papers around before she finds the paper she was looking for and then looked up at Miyoko with a serious expression.

"Okay, as you know, tomorrow signups for the tennis club are to start. The boys will get these three courts outside this window, while the girls will get the three courts on the other side of the school close to the headmaster's office. Before practice starts, make sure that every player has their physicals—yes even the first years—and collect those. Then, I want you to make a list of the rookies showing up and to present this list to me after practice ends. After you've made the list, I want you to make a list of second and third years and list their strengths and weaknesses. When you come hand me the list after practice, I will you give you a form for each second and third year and you must fill them out according to the data you collected during the practice. From these forms you will determine who can qualify for a regular position. After you finish you will take the eligible players and organize them into 4 blocks. Oh and we will meet in my classroom not my office. Any questions?" Ryuzaki-sensei instructed as she read off a list.

"No, I understand," Miyoko said. Finally, after months of waiting, her duty as captain was finally kicking in. For once in her life, Miyoko has something to look forward to.

"Well, good luck then Miyoko-buchou," Ryuzaki-sensei said with a smile lighting her face. Miyoko smiled back and gave out a small laugh. Yep, she definitely couldn't wait for tomorrow. Then a thought came to mind.

"You didn't tell me Ryoma-kun went to school here," Miyoko said with a frown. Ryuzaki-sensei gave a low chuckle.

"Didn't think you would be interested," she admitted glancing out the window. Miyoko furrowed her eyebrows.

"_Yeah, why exactly would I be interested?" _Miyoko pondered. Sometimes she doesn't even understand herself. Suddenly Ryuzaki-sensei's face turned into a frown and she stood up abruptly.

"What is Momoshiro think he's doing? I tell him to take the week off and rest his stupid injury and what does he do? Goes out and challenges a 1st year to a match! If that isn't smart I don't know what is," Ryuzaki-sensei rants, a couple veins popping on her forwards. Everyone knows she's pissed when she starts getting sarcastic.

Miyoko averts her attention outside and sees Momoshiro-san, a 2nd year regular, playing a match with Ryoma-kun. She knew Momoshiro-san due to a couple run-ins in Ryuzaki-sensei's office and it is safe to say that she didn't like him. Miyoko didn't necessarily hate him though either. On closer inspection, Momoshiro-san's movements seemed a little slow and his shots were not as powerful as they normally are. Ryuzaki-sensei said that he was injured and judging by his movement, Miyoko came to the conclusion that something was wrong with one his ankles. She couldn't determine which one. Ryuzaki-sensei let out a long sigh and stood up from her chair. She started heading towards the door and motioned for Miyoko to follow her.

"Come on, this won't take long," she said and proceeded to walk out the door.

*********BREAK*********

"Are you okay with this Momoshiro?" Ryuzaki-sensei asked as soon as she entered the court with Miyoko lagging behind.

"Oh, Baa-san," Momoshiro-san said turning around to face Ryuzaki-sensei.

"At this rate, that freshman would have ran all over you," Ryuzaki-sensei said with a bit of humor in her tone. Momoshiro-san rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.

"You could be right…" he said. Ryuzaki-sensei narrowed her eyes slightly.

"Be serious. If your right ankle wasn't sprained, you could've beaten him," Ryuzaki-sensei said. Miyoko looked down lightly at Momoshiro-san's right ankle and could see that it was taped.

"Nope, he knew it from the start," he said matter of factly as he stared at the group of 1st years crowding around Ryoma-kun. Ryuzaki-sensei let out a small chuckle as she crossed her arms.

"Really?" she asked.

"He used his other hand to play a senpai. Must be his handicap," Momoshiro-san said with an analytical face as he stared at Ryoma-kun. He turned around suddenly about to head off to who knows where. However, he stops as he finally takes note of Miyoko's presence. His face lights up in a big smile.

"Oh is that you Miyoko-senpai? You're so small I didn't see you there. Still so quiet I see! And have you grown a couple centimeters since I la-"

"Don't talk to me."

"SO MEAN!"

**A/N: I hope you guys liked it! Please review, favorite, and follow (: **

**Tell me if you liked it and any constructive criticism is fine too! Anyways I should be able to update soon maybe Thursday or Friday! **


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Ahhh thanks for all the favorites, follows, and reviews! Hope you guys like this chapter and sorry for any possible mistakes made and sorry for the late update :P And I changed some things in the previous chapter. Miyoko's height instead of 160 cm is 152cm.**

**Not really happy with this chapter, so sorry about that too. **

**Summary: Miyoko may be a genius, but she has no clue when it comes to boys. Frankly, as the captain of Seigaku's girl's tennis team, she doesn't have time for them. However, Ryuzaki Sumire, aware of Miyoko's long term crush on Tezuka has given herself the task to get this unlikely pair together. And boy will she need some help. TezukaxOC, Rated T for language**

**Disclaimer: Don't own anything unfortunately :/ well except for my OC **

**ANYWAYS, ENJOY!**

Miyoko woke up early that Tuesday morning. She rubbed her eyes and peered at the alarm clock on her nightstand that said 6:45 a.m. She lay in a supine position on her bed and stared at the ceiling.

"_Today's the day,"_ Miyoko thought as a small smile crept onto her face. Normally, when tennis season started, Miyoko would leave early and run some laps before practice started. So, Miyoko got out of bed and headed to the bathroom to get ready. She quickly brushed her teeth and combed her shoulder length, pin straight hair and pulled it into a short pony tail at the nape of her neck. Miyoko walked back into her room and changed into some shorts and a t-shirt. She grabbed her school uniform and stuffed it into her school bag so that she could change into it after she takes her shower in the girl's locker room.

Miyoko's stamina was not the greatest. She used to have a lot of trouble with her stamina particularly when she was a 1st-year. Miyoko could run for long periods of time with no problem if she was running at her own pace. Her problem, or weakness if you may, was that she wasn't fast. Simply put, Miyoko's reflexes were shit. Fortunately, the captain at the time and Ryuzaki-sensei saw this and had put together a training regime that would depict the most promising results. Miyoko cringed at the thought of that retched regime.

She walked past the kitchen where she could hear her mother cooking everyone's breakfast. Miyoko peered into the kitchen and saw that her Oka-san's back was faced towards her.

"Hey Oka-san, I'm going to school early to run a little," Miyoko told her. Hamada Chinatsu turned around and looked at her lazy daughter. Correction—her _genius_ lazy daughter. Harumi and Azuma were both very bright children but Miyoko was different. Miyoko, unlike them, never needed to try. Most things came natural to her. She was captain of the girl's tennis club and one of the top students of her class. She tied with one of her classmates for first, so Chinatsu wasn't really sure if Miyoko was top of her class or not.

"Are you not eating breakfast? You know your Otou-san would be angry if he found out you didn't eat breakfast," Oka-san chided, turning around to face Miyoko.

"I know. It's just that I don't really have an appetite," Miyoko said resting a hand on her stomach. Chinatsu frowned worriedly but eventually gave in.

"Alright. Make sure you eat a big lunch then!" Oka-san said. Miyoko nodded and headed out the door, grabbing her tennis bag on the way. She stepped outside into the chilly air and started walking towards Seigaku. Miyoko put in her headphones and set her iPod to shuffle. Miyoko sighed deeply, regretting waking up so early to go for a run. Usually the girls and boys tennis teams would have practice in the morning; however, since it was the first day of practice, the tennis club members were not required to practice in the morning. Morning practices would start tomorrow. Now that she thought about it, Miyoko wasn't really sure if the boys had morning practice today.

Miyoko walked through the gates of her school and headed towards the courts close to the headmasters office. She was sure that no one would be there at this time so she was guaranteed privacy. Miyoko walked into the girl's locker room and put her things in her designated locker. She slowly made her way to the courts and started to run 10 laps around the three courts.

As she ran around the court, Miyoko concentrated on the burn of her muscles and feeling of her feet hitting the ground. For some reason, there was a slight pain in her stomach that wouldn't go away. She assumed that it was just some cramps but she has been running for 10 minutes now and the pain wasn't going away. Normally, Miyoko would think that it was that time of the month, but she had just had hers the previous week. After she finished her 10 laps she stopped to try and catch her breath. Miyoko put her hands on to top of her head, stretching her abdomen to try and ease the cramps. However, it only made it worse. Way worse. The pain came in intervals, each worse than the previous. Miyoko grabbed her stomach and jerked forward as another pain unexpectedly hit her.

"_What's wrong with me?" _Miyoko thought as a wave of nausea overwhelmed her senses. _"I need to get to the nurse's office."_ Miyoko started to move and automatically regretted it as the pain started to spread through her stomach.

"_Shitshitshitshitshit I'm screwed. What the fuck is happening to me?!"_ Miyoko thought as she fell to her knees one hand holding her weight up and the other on her stomach. She tried to call for help through her gasping breathes but no sound came out. Miyoko rested her hot forehead on the cool ground as she held her stomach with both of her arms. After a couple of minutes the pain slowly started to recede and Miyoko slowly got onto her feet and started to slowly make her way towards the nurses office. Miyoko headed towards the door that would lead her inside Seigaku with a hand resting on her stomach. Her face grimaced every time she took a step. Miyoko could feel sweat rolling down her stomach and her face. Even in her nauseous state, she could tell that her body temperature was higher than it should be. However, when she was rounding a corner, she slammed into a wall. Miyoko fell right on her ass as she let out a pained yelp, her hand tightening around her stomach. When Miyoko looked up to see why there was a wall in the middle of the hallway, she saw that the wall was in fact Tezuka Kunimitsu. Miyoko felt her eyes widen as she stared up at her crush. She tried her hardest to make sure that her expression didn't reveal any of the pain that was flaring in her stomach. Miyoko hated showing weakness. It was one of her greatest fears.

"_Just my fricking luck," _Miyoko thought grumpily. She put a hand to her mouth as she felt another wave of nausea hit her like a tsunami.

"Watch where you're going," Miyoko heard Tezuka say as he side stepped her fallen form and start heading towards the stairs that she had just climbed down. Miyoko, overwhelmed by embarrassment and pain, got up as fast as she could. She automatically regretted it and fell back down due to the pain that was rising again, letting a small groan release from her mouth. Miyoko felt tears come to her eyes.

"_I have to get to the nurse's office."_

"_I have____to get to the nurse's office."_

"_I HAVE to get to the nurse's office."_

Determination overrided the pain in her stomach as she got on her hands and knees. As soon as she got up, Miyoko put one hand on the wall to steady herself. She started to take small steps towards her destination.

"_I'm not going to get anywh-" _However before Miyoko could finish her thought, she was swept off her feet into someone's arm. She looked up and saw that it was Tezuka. He wasn't looking at her but she could see that his face was set in purposefulness.

"Do you need to go to the nurse's office?" He asked. Miyoko swallowed the lump that was forming in her throat and nodded reluctantly. Tezuka started moving quickly towards the office. She closed her eyes tightly trying to ease the pain away. Miyoko tried to ignore the pain by concentrating on the feeling of Tezuka's strong arms around her and the feeling of his cold hand under her knees. Miyoko started to take deep breathes but it only made her stomach feel worse. She gritted her teeth to stop herself from yelping in pain when Tezuka abruptly stopped. Miyoko looked up and saw that they had reached the nurse's office. Tezuka gently put her feet on the ground but didn't let her go completely.

"Can you walk now?" Tezuka asked looked down at Miyoko's shivering figure. She swallowed (more like choked) down her pride and shook her head. Tezuka nodded calmly and leaned his head down so that it was next to hers. She looked at him questioningly. He raised one of his eyebrows.

"Put your arm around my neck," Tezuka said. Miyoko reluctantly put her arm around his neck as his arm snaked around her small waist. Tezuka opened the door and signaled the nurse that Miyoko was hurt as he led her to one of the many beds in the infirmary. Miyoko stared at the ceiling trying once again to calm her breathing.

"_Why is it so hot in here? It's so suffocating in here, I can hardly breathe."_

"_Why?"_

"_Why?"_

"_Why?"_

The nurse hustled to Miyoko's side and automatically put her hand on Miyoko's forehead.

"You're burning up? What's wrong dear?" the nurse asked as she stared at Miyoko's shivering figure. Miyoko tried to answer but found that the task was extremely difficult.

"It's m-my s-s-stomach," Miyoko finally croaked. Miyoko flinched as another wave of pain hit again.

"I need you to remove your hand from your stomach. I'm going to take a quick look," the nurse said. Miyoko slowly moved her hand to her side. The nurse pushed her shirt up, letting the cool air strike her scorching stomach, and put her glove covered hands on it and moved them across it.

"Can you tell me what happened?" the nurse asked kindly as she pressed a little harder onto Miyoko's stomach causing her to wince.

"I w-was running in t-t-the tennis c-court and m-my s-s-stomach started t-t-to h-hurt and I c-c-c-couldn't move," Miyoko choked out. Fortunately, the pain in her stomach was slowing dispersing away. The nurse frowned at Miyoko's explanation.

"_It sounds like she is suffering from stomach cramps but I didn't know it could be this severe," _the nurse thought while taking her hand away from Miyoko's bare stomach.

"Start taking deep breaths and the pain should start to go away, understand?" the nurse instructed before heading out of the room to get who knows what. Miyoko turned her head and saw that the time was 7:36 a.m.

"_Damn, I still need to take a shower…whatever, I'll just be late. I don't care," _Miyoko thought as she closed her eyes. They snapped open when she heard the sound of someone standing up close to her left. She turned her head slightly and saw that Tezuka was surprisingly still in the room. However, he was moving towards the door. Miyoko stared at the back of her savoir. She inwardly scoffed at her foolishness.

"_This isn't a shoujo manga. He was simply in the right place at the right time. I'll say thank you and he'll nod and then…well that's it," _Miyoko thought, a frown bearing her face. She sighed to herself.

"Domo arigato," Miyoko whispered, not sure if he heard her. When Miyoko heard the door close behind Tezuka she took another long, deep breath trying to ease her thumping heart. The pain in her stomach, surprisingly, was now practically nonexistent. _"What the hell was that? I have never gotten cramps that hurt so bad before," _Miyoko thought. Her eyes widened. If Ryuzaki-sensei figures out what just happened she won't let Miyoko go to practice after school. Today's the most important day for the captain to be present so she had to be there no matter the circumstance. The nurse was still not in the room so Miyoko took this chance to slip out.

"_Ewww I feel so sticky…"_ Miyoko thought as she made her way to the girl's locker room, all thought of the previous event gone.

**********BREAK**********

"What's your excuse this time Hamada?" was the first thing Miyoko heard when she walked into class 10 minutes late. At this point in the morning, she was aggravated. _Extremely _aggravated. There was that incident with her stomach and then the warm water wasn't working and now she had to listen to her sensei's lecture all while making a fool out of herself. Well, she had _enough. _Miyoko looked Domoto-sensei right in the eyes and then smiled the most blinding smile she could muster.

"Well you see, I had this conflict going on within me regarding whether to exhibit herd mentality by attending class or whether to take a more individualistic decision of skipping school. _Obviously _I chose the former but the decision-making process was lengthy and way too complex," Miyoko said warmly. The class was silent. Never had they heard the quiet girl talk back to their sensei. However, all Domoto-sensei did was raise his eyebrows.

"Is that all you can come up with?"

"Why, would you like me to try again?"

"Go ahead."

"I saw a fire truck as I was coming to school and went home to make sure my house wasn't on fire."

"Pathetic."

"I got lost on the road of life."

"You stole that from Naruto."

"My pet fish was trying to kill himself."

"You don't have a fish."

"…how did you know?"

"You just told me." Miyoko sighed deeply, her shoulders falling. She took a small peek at her classmates who had remained quite through the whole ordeal. Their eyes were wide and some even had their mouths hanging open. Miyoko's face turned red, suddenly regretting losing her temper. _"Stupidstupidstupidstupidstupidstupid." _Suddenly she heard a deep hearty laugh emitting from Domoto-sensei's mouth. Miyoko whipped her head in his direction and her eyes widened at the sight of her sensei holding his stomach and leaning over his desk. Then laughter started coming from the Miyoko's fellow classmates. Miyoko's face became a shade of deep red and she stared at the ground willing it to open up and swallow her whole.

"Ryuzaki-sensei did say you were a witty one. Didn't believe her until now though," Domoto-sensei said wiping an imaginary tear away. Miyoko's eyes narrowed at the name of Ryuzaki-sensei. _"That damn old bat's talking behind my back now. Pisses me off…" _Miyoko thought as she grudgingly walked to her seat beside Tezuka. She glanced at him while she was sitting down and saw that he was reading a book. Miyoko wished she could see the title.

Miyoko would probably never be able to act normal around him again due to stomach incident not too long ago. _"He probably thinks I'm weak now. Coming to tears just because of some stomach cramps,"_ Miyoko thought as she diverted her attention back to Domoto-sensei as he returned back to lecturing on Japanese History.

"_I just want school to end…" _Miyoko thought as she rested her chin on her hand and wrote down a couple notes.

**********BREAK***********

After school was over, Miyoko pushed herself through the crowded corridors trying to reach Ryuzaki-sensei's office. Her height of 152 cm was not helping at all. However, determined (stubborn) in nature, Miyoko would never allow someone to make fun of her height.

"Ryuzaki-sensei, I'm coming in!" Miyoko shouted as she pushed open the door. She looked in and saw that Ryuzaki-sensei was looking outside the window like the old hag she is. Miyoko narrowed her eyes and stomped up to her desk.

"Who do you think you are?! Thinking you can just talk about me, _behind my back_, to teachers!" Miyoko said, a vein popping in her forehead. Ryuzaki-sensei turned around and looked at her with a little smile.

"Ah it was good things good things," Ryuzaki-sensei assured putting her hands up in surrender.

"Telling Domoto-sensei that I'm witty is not 'good things'," Miyoko yelled back pointing at Ryuzaki-sensei accusingly.

"But it was a complime-"

"NO IT WASN'T! I got completely humiliated in front of my class because of you!"

"Huh? What'd I do?"

"You told Domoto-sensei I was witty!"

"What does that have to do with anything?"

"DON'T PLAY DUMB!"

"Is that all you came to say?" Ryuzaki-sensei asked while turning her back to Miyoko and staring out the window again. Miyoko sighed deeply and hung her head.

"Sorry, not a good day…" Miyoko said glumly.

"You should be in higher spirits, Miyoko-buchou! It's your first day as captain, you should be at practice intimidating all the first years with your height," Ryuzaki-sensei said, putting a hand over her mouth to muffle her laughter. However, she stooped when she felt the evil aura coming from Miyoko's direction.

"Hahahaha anyways…you remember what you have to do right?" Ryuzaki-sensei asked hastily, trying to divert Miyoko's attention.

"Of course I remember you old hag. Unlike you, my memories are not close to fading away just yet," Miyoko retorted. Ryuzaki-sensei waved off her insult like it was nothing. However, before she could tell Miyoko to get out of her office someone knocked on the door.

"Come in!" Ryuzaki-sensei said as she took a seat at her desk. Miyoko turned towards the door and almost choked on air when she saw who it was. At the entrance of the Ryuzaki-sensei's office stood none other than Tezuka. He glanced at Miyoko briefly before turning his attention back on Ryuzaki-sensei.

"Oh, Tezuka! What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be starting warm-ups?" Ryuzaki-sensei said as her face split into a smile when she saw Miyoko's baffled expression.

"You said you wanted to talk to me," was Tezuka's brief answer.

"Almost forgot about that haha," Ryuzaki-sensei said rubbing her head sheepishly. Now it was Miyoko's turn to put a hand over her mouth to muffle her laughter. Ryuzaki-sensei only blinked before her eyes took a mischievous glint.

"Hey Miyoko-chan, why don't you explain what I told you yesterday to Tezuka here while you both walk to the locker rooms? Would that be a problem Tezuka?" Ryuzaki-sensei asked, an innocent expression gracing her face. Miyoko's eyes widened when she figured out what Ryuzaki-sensei was doing. She was about to give her sensei/coach one of her most menacing glares but Tezuka answered before Miyoko could.

"That's no problem," Tezuka said before turning back towards the door and leaving. Miyoko sent one last glare to Ryuzaki-sensei before walking after Tezuka. She jogged a little so that she could be able to walk beside him. Their height different was enormous. She didn't even reach his shoulder. How embarrassing. If Miyoko had to guess, he was probably around 180 cm, almost 30 cm more than her. Her mind went back to this morning when he carried her to the nurse's office. Miyoko blushed at the thought of his arms around her.

"So?" Tezuka finally asked.

"N-Nani?" Miyoko stuttered, her mind coming back to reality.

"What were you supposed to tell me?" Tezuka asked.

"Oh uh yeah, sorry. Anyways, um, Ryuzaki-sensei said that before practice starts you need to collect everyone's physicals. After that you need to make a list of all the rookies and present that list to Ryuzaki-sensei after practice. Once you've made that list, she wants you to make another list where you list the second and third years and their strengths and weaknesses. When you come to hand those lists to Ryuzaki-sensei after practice she will give you a form for each second and third year student and you will have to fill them out according to the data you collected. From those forms you will determine who can qualify for a regular position this season. And, um, she also wants you to start forming the blocks for the regular matches. Ryuzaki-sensei also said that we will meet in her classroom rather than her office. That's all she told me," Miyoko explained stepping outside the school building with Tezuka still beside her.

"Alright," was his short reply.

"Oishi-san is your vice-captain right?" Miyoko asked hesitantly.

"Correct," Tezuka said walking slowly so that Miyoko could keep up with him.

"You might want to bring him with you after practice. It would be nice to have a second opinion," Miyoko explained looking up at Tezuka.

"I suppose you're right. Will you be bringing your vice-captain?" Tezuka asked nonchalantly. Miyoko's eyes widened. _"He knows I'm the captain of the girl's team…"_

"No, her grandfather's in the hospital so she has to go there after practice. I don't mind really," Miyoko said. Her vice-captain, Shimabukuro Azusa, has been in a pretty glum mood due to the admittance of her grandfather in the hospital. Apparently Azusa-chan was very close to him.

"I'm sorry to hear that," Tezuka said looking down at her. His expression had not changed but she could hear the change in his tone suggesting that he really meant what he said. Miyoko smiled at him, forgetting all her nervousness. This was the most she had ever talked with the stoic and strict captain. Miyoko liked talking with him.

"Are you alright?" Tezuka suddenly asked. Miyoko looked up at him again and raised her eyebrows, not sure what he meant by the question. "From this morning," he clarified.

"Oh yeah, I'm fine. Just some bad cramps," Miyoko said trying to put a smile on her face. She didn't want to talk about the embarrassing situation that happened this morning. However, before he could reply, they had reached the boys locker room.

"I'll see you after practice then?" Miyoko asked looking up at him again. All this looking up was hurting her neck. He nodded and headed into the locker room. Miyoko continued walking, a small smile gracing her lips. However, what the two of them didn't know was that they were being watched through their whole interaction.

**********BREAK**********

"OMG DID YOU SEE THAT?! TEZUKA-BUCHOU WAS TALKING TO A **GIRL**!"

"Eiji keep your voice down, they'll hear us!"

"Didn't now Tezuka was into the younger type?"

"What do you mean by younger Fuji?"

"Did you see how small she was? Definitely a first year."

"Don't be stupid, that's Miyoko-senpai!"

"Senpai?"

"Hamada Miyoko. She's in class 3-1 and is the captain of the girl's tennis team. Hamada-san is known as The Falcon due to her amazing analytical skills and her falcon like reflexes. She might seem small but she is fast and her shots are powerful. Hamada-san is probably one of the best tennis players the girl's team has ever seen," Inui explained adjusting his glasses in that creepy manner of his.

"Seriously?!"

"Ano…are you sure that this is fine? Tezuka-buchou would be mad if he found us snooping," Takashi said from their current position behind some bushes near the boy's locker room.

"Yeah this is annoying," Kaido said in that rough voice of his.

"Shut up baka. This is a once in a life opportunity," came Momoshiro's annoyed. While the two continued bickering, the rest of the tennis regulars continued talking about the current situation.

"I agree with Momo-kun. In all my years at Seigaku, I have never once seen Tezuka take interest in a girl," Fuji said with his normal smile.

"There is a 95.2% chance that they're just talking about tennis," Inui said looking at his notebook that he always carried around. Everyone slumped their shoulder. Just like Tezuka to be talking about tennis to such a cute girl.

"Guys, we should probably go no-" however before Oishi could finish his sentence Fuji had put a hand over his mouth preventing him from speaking any further. Fuji put a finger to his lip in the universal 'shut up' sign and motioned everyone to look at the entrance of the boy's locker room. They all looked at Miyoko and Tezuka standing at the entrance. The regulars were close enough to hear the conversation.

"I'll see you after practice then?" they heard the small girl ask. All of the regular's eyes widened (well except for Fuji and Inui). They watched in a daze as Tezuka nodded and walked into the boy's locker room. When Miyoko had left the premises the regulars fell into utter_ chaos_. 

"DID YOU HEAR THAT?!"

"Didn't know Tezuka had it in him."

"Did not see that coming."

"A date? A DATE?!"

"OUR BELOVED TEZUKA-BUCHOU IS GOING ON HIS FIRST DATE! I CAN'T BEL-"

"Run 10 laps right now," said a voice that made everyone freeze. They all slowly turned their heads in the direction the voice came from and saw Tezuka standing menacingly above their crouched figures. With wide eyes they all nodded and _sprinted _to the courts before Tezuka could say anything else. Only Inui and Oishi stayed behind.

"You guys too," Tezuka said staring the two down.

"You heard us right?" Oishi asked. Oishi concluded that he did from Tezuka's lack of response. "Are you really going on a date with Hamada-san?"

"No," was Tezuka's curt reply. "Even if I was, it would be none of your concern."

"Then what was that all about?" Oishi asked.

"She was simply informing me of what Ryuzaki-sensei wanted us to do on our first official day of practice," Tezuka replied. "Oishi, before you start your laps, tell the new comers to pick an open court and start hitting. Inui, do you already have a list of first years?"

"Hai," Inui responded.

"Before you start running your laps, confirm whether everyone who signed up is present and collect their physicals," Tezuka ordered. "Oishi, after practice we need to meet up with Ryuzaki-sensei. Now both of you get going. I have something to take care of so I'll be a couple minutes late," he said while walking back into the locker rooms. The two third years nodded their heads and started making their ways to the courts.

**A/N: Eh I was going to continue writing this chapter and make it longer but I didn't feel like it. Not really happy with this chapter. Again, sorry for the late update! I had my ACT on Saturday so I was busy studying for that. Now I'm sick :/ **

**Anyways please review, favorite, and follow.**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Thank you so much for the reviews! Sorry for the long delay :( Anyways I hope you like this chapter! Apologize in advance for any mistakes made.**

**Summary: Miyoko may be a genius, but she has no clue when it comes to boys. Frankly, as the captain of Seigaku's girl's tennis team, she doesn't have time for them. However, Ryuzaki Sumire, aware of Miyoko's long term crush on Tezuka has given herself the task to get this unlikely pair together. And boy will she need some help. TezukaxOC, Rated T for language**

**Disclaimer: Unfortunately don't own anything, well except for Miyoko.**

After Miyoko finished informing Tezuka on what he needed to do, she made her way to practice. Miyoko would never admit it to anyone, but she was nervous. Attention was something that she was not accustomed to, so the thought of all those people listening to her orders was definitely nerve racking. Miyoko remembered when the captain from last year, Suzuki Kiyomi, told her that she was entrusting the team to her.

*********FLASHBACK*********

_It was close to two o'clock when the regulars from the girl's tennis team decided to meet up at a popular restaurant. Tomorrow would be the last game the 3__rd__ years would be able to participate in before they left for their respective high schools. Miyoko sat beside her best friend and doubles partner, Shimabukuro Azusa. Azusa was slurping her miso ramen relatively loudly. _

"_Stop making those boorish noises, you idiotic swine," Miyoko mumbled while she chewed on some spicy bread. _

"_I don't want to hear that from you! You're the one talking with your mouth full with that stupid unsavory bread," Azusa countered. _

"_I assure you that this spicy bread is extremely tasty. Better than that shoddy ramen," Miyoko grumbled. Azusa and Miyoko continued bickering while the rest of the regulars just sweatdropped. _

"_The two of them just never stop do they?" Moriyo, a second year regular, whispered. The third years just shrugged their shoulders and continued eating their food. They were already used to Miyoko and Azusa's antics anyways. _

"_Guys, I really think you should stop them," Moriyo said, while scooting away from the fighting couple. "I think they're going to kill each other." _

"_I'll rip out your arm, cut your arm off with it, and beat you to death with said arm," Miyoko said slowly inching towards Azusa. _

"_I will donkey punch you so hard that your eyeballs will pop out of their sockets. I will then proceed to remove those sockets and use them as jump ropes," Azusa replied. _

"_I will dress you as lettuce and feed you to snails. It will be a very slow death." _

"_Oh Kami. MIYOKO-CHAN YOU KNOW HOW MUCH I HATE SNAILS!"_

"_Exactly."_

"…_don't make me bring it up, Miyoko-chan."_

"_I don't know what you're talking about."_

"_You know exactly what I'm talking about."_

"_Oh Kami. Azusa-chan, please don't do this."_

"…"

"…"

"_SQUIRREL."_

"…"

"…"

"_You promised you would never mention __**that retched name**__ ever____again."_

"_Well you brought up snails so we're even." _

_Throughout this whole ordeal, the tennis regulars stared at the two in silence. They knew that Miyoko and Azusa were crazy but this was a whole new level. This was maniacal. _

"_What's with the squirrels and snails?" Kiyomi, the captain of the girl's tennis team, asked in a baffled tone. _

"…_forget you heard anything," came the reply from both girls. _

"_You guys need help," the regulars said at the same time, still not recovered from the absurd conversation they just listened to. However, their attention channeled to their captain when she started to explain the purpose of their get together._

"_Anyways, squirrels and snails aside…" *insert Miyoko and Azusa shuddering*"…I did come here to clarify something important." Everyone automatically sobered up and gave their captain their complete and undivided attention. _

"_As you know tomorrow will be the last game us 3__rd__ years will play in our middle school careers. Taking that into account, I will need to appoint a new captain who I can pass the team down to. Between the three 2__nd__ years – Azusa-chan, Moriyo-chan, and Miyoko-chan- it was a difficult decision. However, after I calculated your individual qualities and asked Ryuzaki-sensei who she would recommend, we both came to the same conclusion. Congratulations Miyoko-chan, you are the new captain of Seigaku's girl's tennis team! Please take good care of them." Kiyomi exclaimed, patting Miyoko's head affectionately. _

_Miyoko's eyes widened after she heard Kiyomi-buchou's speech. She was definitely not expecting that. Miyoko stared at her captain in complete shock. _

"_**Is she stupid or something? I'm definitely not captain material!" **__Miyoko thought frantically. However, before she could speak her opinion about the matter, Kiyomi had already interrupted her. _

"_Any objections?" Kiyomi asked, glancing around the table. The remaining second years, Azusa and Moriya, both gave Miyoko wide smiles. _

"_Nope! You'll make an amazing captain Miyoko-chan!" Azusa exclaimed. Moriya nodded her head in agreement. _

"_**They've gone crazy…" **__Miyoko thought as she went back to eating her spicy bread. _

_********LATER********_

"_Wait just a minute! Why me?" Miyoko asked, frantically trying to keep up the with the taller girl's long strides. Kiyomi just gave her kohai a deadpan look. _

"_Because I chose you," Kiyomi replied bluntly. _

"_But it wouldn't be right for me to be captain-"_

"_Quit you're whining," Kiyomi said, cutting Miyoko off. "Weren't you the one that said you would lead this team to victory?"_

"_I just…" Miyoko said trailing off._

"_I want to entrust this team to you, Miyoko-chan. So stop making your damn excuses and go away. You need plenty of rest for tomorrow's match," Kiyomi said matter-of-factly. Miyoko just stared at Kiyomi in wonder. The captain just gave her a glare and pushed her in the direction of her house. _

"_Shoo! You're getting on my nerves."_

***********END FLASHBACK************

Miyoko smiled at the memory. She needed to catch up with Kiyomi-senpai sometime. Miyoko started to feel nervous when she saw the court. As the courts got closer, her steps became slower and slower until she finally came to a stop. She looked at the team- _her _team – doing their warm ups. Anxiety started to build up in her stomach, and Miyoko found herself wanting to flee in the opposite direction.

"_No, I can't do that. Kiyomi-senpai entrusted this team to me. I can't, under any circumstance, fail her," _Miyoko thought as she raised her head high and started taking confident steps toward her team. She opened the door of the fence surrounding the tennis courts and stepped in. Everyone stopped what they were doing and stared at Miyoko as she walked to a bench to lay down her stuff. She could feel everyone's stare boring holes in the back of her head.

"Oh Kami, look it's Hamada-buchou!"

"What?! I thought she was a first year!"

"Shut up! Don't let her hear you say that or you're dead."

"Is she really that scary?"

"I once heard that she made two high school boys piss themselves with just one look. The scary part was that they were both 2 meters tall!" Miyoko smirked to herself. She mentally scarred those two boys good. The smirk vanished from her face and instead formed into a sinister smile when she realized what she had to do next. It was time for the annual motivation speech. However, instead of the typical 'We're going to win no matter what' speech, Miyoko had a different idea.

"Attention!" Miyoko yelled. Everyone who was not already aware of Miyoko's presence automatically stopped what they were doing and walked over to the small captain.

"If you don't already know who I am, my name's Hamada Miyoko. I'm the captain of this team and I look forward to playing tennis with all of you. However, before we can do that, I want you to be aware of the only rule we have in this club. I will _not, _under any circumstance, tolerate bullying or any other form of showing disrespect towards someone. If you have a problem with someone, come to me and I'll settle it. Understand?" Everyone nodded their heads vigorously.

"I'm warning you now, this club _is not easy._ There will be days where you are so tired, you won't be able to stand. Trust me, all of us second and third years have been there. Fortunately, all the hard work we accomplished in practice definitely improved our skills individually. We only expect people who put there all into what they want. So if you're not up to, leave now," Miyoko stated staring down the group of young girls. She could see out of the corner of her eye some girls leaving the courts and sighed to herself.

"_She hated this part. But, oh well, if they didn't leave now they would have left eventually,"_ Miyoko thought to herself.

"Is that all?" Miyoko asked, peering around the now smaller group. "Hmm okay, I guess that's everyone. Before we start warm ups, I want you to know what I expect out of all of you. Last year, I made a promise to the captain that I would lead this team to the nationals. If you're not willing to work as hard as you can to achieve that then you're free to go to another club. I highly recommend that all you have either some short-tern or long-term goals. Not only will this give you a metaphorical finish line but it will also motivate and stimulate your spirit, overall improving your skills."

"Now, without further ado, I need all players to hand in their physicals. If you don't have your physicals with you, then please sit this practice out and remember to bring it tomorrow," Miyoko explained as a line started to form in front of her.

"Once you've turned in your physicals, I want all first years on the first court, all second years on the second court, and all third years on the third court. Wait there for further instructions," Miyoko explained. Once Azusa and Moriya finally approached the front of the line, Miyoko pulled them aside and told them to wait there for a second. After the last physical was taken it, Miyoko turned to her two friends and gave them a small smile.

"Don't smile like that, it creeps me out. Actually I'm pretty sure it creeps everyone out," Azusa said with a deadpan look. Before Miyoko could retort, Moriya had already hit Azusa upside the head.

"Shut up Azusa-chan! Don't ruin her mood! Oh by the way, nice speech Miyoko-buchou. Kind of expected more people to leave though," Moriya said.

"Arigato, Moriya-chan. I pulled you two away because I have a favor to ask. I want to handle the first year's court since they're the newbies here. I won't have time to talk to all of the courts so I want Azusa-chan to handle the second years and Moriya-chan to handle the third year court. Just take them through the basic warm up stretches and have them run some laps. After that test their stamina however you deem necessary. I recommend sprinting. Then after that, have them practice some shots. By that time, I should be finished with the first years. If you're having any troubles, just call me over or something," Miyoko explained as she started heading towards the first court.

"Hai!"

Miyoko looked at the first years all huddled together at their respective court. She sighed when she saw that half of them were as tall as she was. This was going to be a long two hours.

************BREAK*************

Miyoko had to hold back a maniacal laugh as she observed the crumbled bodies littering the first court.

"Good job. You guys lasted longer than the first years last year," Miyoko stated. This statement however, only made them all groan. Wait, was that a growl? _"Savages…"_

"You're stamina training is done for today, so after a small water break you guys can practice you're shots," Miyoko explained as she started walking to other courts to check on the progress of the second and third years. She got to the second court and saw that Azusa was standing on one end of the court while the second years lined up on the opposite side. Azusa would send a ball to one of them and they would have to try and hit it back to the best of their abilities. A quick glance to the third court showed that Moriya was doing the same thing but at a higher pace. Miyoko observed each and every player and sized up their strengths and weaknesses. There were a couple second years that seemed to have potential to become regulars that year as she saw a tall second year perform a perfect volley.

"1 minute water break!" Azusa exclaimed. The second years stopped what they were doing and jogged to the benches to drink from their respective bottles. Miyoko stopped observing the players and instead focused her attention to Azusa who was making her wake towards Miyoko.

"Is there a reason you were especially brutal to the first years today? Isn't an hour and a half too much stamina training for their first practice?" Azusa asked as she looked down at Miyoko's small figure.

"They'll be fine," Miyoko stated blankly. They fell into a comfortable silence as they both got lost in their thoughts.

"…I'm sorry that I couldn't make it after school," Azusa suddenly said. Miyoko looked up at her friend and saw that she was avoiding eye contact. Miyoko huffed, annoyed at Azusa's behavior.

"There's no need to apologize baka. Your grandfather's in the hospital. That's not your fault, so just forget about it," Miyoko said gruffly.

"But-"

"Shut up. Practice is almost over, so just have the second years run a couple laps before practice ends," Miyoko instructed, heading towards Moriya to inform her to do the same. Azusa suddenly started laughing, causing Miyoko to stop. She looked back at Azusa and raised one eyebrow questionably, silently asking what the hell was wrong with her.

"You're a pretty good captain, Miyoko-_buchou_?" Azusa taunted, her face forming a wide grin.

"Don't be surprised when you find snails in your food tomorrow."

"AHHH MIYOKO-CHAN WHYYY?!"

**********BREAK***********

After Miyoko informed her teammates that there would be practice tomorrow morning, she headed to the locker rooms to take a quick shower before heading over to meet Ryuzaki-sensei. And Tezuka. Her stomach clenched at the thought of him. Miyoko still couldn't believe that she had an actual conversation with the stoic captain. She was kind of surprised she didn't end up embarrassing herself like 20 times during the short walk to the locker rooms.

Miyoko walked up to the classroom that Tezuka said that Ryuzaki-sensei wanted to meet and opened the door. The classroom looked like the ones they had in universities where the teacher would teach from the bottom of the classroom while the student's seats would gradually get higher as they approached the back of the room. Tezuka was sitting on the opposite side of the classroom near the windows, while Oishi was standing in the back of the room. Ryuzaki-sensei sat a row in front of Oishi while she spoke to him about something that Miyoko was clueless about.

"Oh, Miyoko, you're finally here! What took so long?" Ryuzaki-sensei asked, turning her attention to the small captain.

"I was taking a shower," Miyoko said as she moved to sit beside her coach. She reached in her bag and pulled out all the sports physicals she had collected and put them in front of Ryuzaki-sensei. Then she pulled a list with all the names of the first years and gave it to Ryuzaki-sensei.

"I counted the number of second and third year students who want to join," Miyoko told her. Ryuzaki-sensei then gave her the specific amount of forms she needed to fill out for each player. Miyoko, completely ignoring everyone's presence, dived into her work. This damn paperwork was going to take eternity and she had no plans on staying overtime to finish it. Time is of the essence.

"How is it, Tezuka?" Ryuzaki-sensei suddenly asked. Miyoko briefly looked up and saw that Tezuka had already started creating the blocks. Miyoko cursed under her breath. How could he already be that far ahead of her? "Found a way to evenly divide it into 4 blocks? This ranking match will be like determining the regular members for the district tournament. Must be tough."

"Yeah," Miyoko heard Tezuka say. Her heart skipped a beat at the sound of his deep smooth voice.

"I heard Ryuzaki-sensei has someone in mind. Like one of the freshman," Oishi said. Miyoko stiffened. Ryuzaki-sensei wanted Ryoma to become a regular? It wasn't entirely impossible and Miyoko was sure that if he tried hard enough he could earn a spot. However, the young first year still had much to learn.

"It doesn't matter what I think. Basically, our freshman can't play in ranking matched till the summer," Ryuzaki-sensei said.

"Well, that depends on the captain I guess," Oishi said as he pointedly looked in Tezuka's direction. He and Ryuzaki-sensei looked briefly at each other as if they had some secret telepathic connection. Could they have been more obvious?

"What you do think Miyoko? You've seen Echizen Ryoma-kun play in person" Ryuzaki-sensei asked, acknowledging her presence.

"You have?" Oishi asked, surprise lacing his words.

"I have. It doesn't matter what I think anyways," Miyoko replied, not looking up from the forms.

"Give us your opinion anyways! You're intelligent right?" Ryuzaki-sensei urged. She looked up and saw that Ryuzaki-sensei and Oishi were looking at her expectantly while Tezuka stopping scribbling vigorously indicating that she had his attention. Miyoko sighed deeply and continued writing while she informed them of her opinion of the young prodigy.

"The brat's arrogant and cocky. Two things I _really _hate. But putting that aside, Ryoma is indeed a prodigy. His stance is perfect, his serves are perfect, and his grip is adequate. At the current skill level that he is, I would say that he could beat a couple, maybe more, of your tennis regulars. He still has a long way to go. If I had a first year of that caliber join my team, I would definitely allow them to enter one of the four blocks. However, something about Ryoma doesn't seem right. I would need to delve further into the matter to be able to determine what exactly is wrong, but I'll leave that to the captain," Miyoko explained. Never once did her eyes stray from the forms in front of her. She could still, however, feel their prying eyes settle on her. Ryuzaki-sensei let out a small laugh.

"You never cease to amaze me. You got all that from watching one game?" Ryuzaki-sensei asked something akin to fascination in her eyes.

"Flattery won't get you anywhere old hag."

"WHO YOU CALLING OLD HAG YOU DWARF!?"

"I'M CALLING **YOU **AN OLD HAG! How old are you now? 56? 57? Or was it 58? It's so hard keeping track of your rapidly growing age."

"If you utter as much as one more syllable I will gut you like a fish," Ryuzaki-sensei hissed, her eyes forming into slits. Miyoko smiled and let out a small laugh. No matter how annoying Ryuzaki-sensei was, she never failed in making her day better. How exactly Ryuzaki-sensei's death threats make her day better she didn't know. Oishi and Tezuka stared at the two with unconcealed horror. Well actually that was only Oishi but you could bet Miyoko's small intestine that Tezuka was feeling it in the inside. Never in all their years at Seigaku had they seen Ryuzaki-sensei loose her cool that fast. And this small girl accomplished it in 2 seconds flat with only a few words.

"Shut up will you Baa-san. I need to finish these forms," Miyoko said as she finished up about half of the third year forms. Ryuzaki-sensei's face formed a frown.

"Will you be able to get home before dark? I don't want you to walk home by yourself. Will one of you walk her home once she's done? She lives near the Ministop," Ryuzaki-sensei said looking expectedly at the two boys. Miyoko's face automatically reddened.

"No seriously it's alright. I can walk home by myself even if it's da-"

"I'll take her," Miyoko heard Tezuka say. She whipped her head in his direction only to find him working diligently as always. "I live around there so it won't be a problem. I'll also be held up here for a while."

Miyoko was having a full blown panic attack. How was she supposed to walk with Tezuka for 15 minutes _alone? _She was so screwed; might as well start writing her will.

"_Sakuno can have all my clothes, she about the same height as me anyways. Azusa-chan can have all my manga. I know she will take good care of them. Moriya-chan can have tennis rackets I guess. I'll leave the tennis team to Azusa-chan," _Miyoko thought, mentally checking off all her possessions.

"Yeah that sounds fine! Who knew you lived near her?" Ryuzaki-sensei said in an overly cheerful tone. Miyoko's eyes widened. _She knew. The old hag knew this would happen. _

"Hey Hamada-chan, are you alright? There seems to be steam coming from your ears," was the last thing Miyoko heard before she started thinking of a list of ways to kill Ryuzaki-sensei slowly and painfully. Death by squirrels was surprisingly high on that list.

**A/N: Again, sorry for the late chapter! Hope you liked and make sure to review, favorite, and follow. Those always encourage me to write (: **

**Anyways next chapter will most likely be the walk home with Tezuka. If you have criticism or ideas of what I should write about in the future (fluff included) just leave it in a review or PM me. **

**Thank you and until next time!**


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